The Washington Post - "ITC to rule on Apple, HTC case"

The International Trade Commission (ITC) is scheduled to issue a ruling on the patent dispute between Apple and smartphone manufacturer HTC. HTC appealed a July ruling by an administrative law judge that it had infringed two of 10 patents that Apple brought before the court. In a recent interview, GPC's Alexander Poltorak commented on the case and whether Apple will settle with HTC. ("ITC to rule on Apple, HTC case", The Washington Post, December 19, 2011)

Article excerpt: [IP analyst Florian] Mueller said it’s not in Apple’s best interest to settle because it makes much more off its own portfolio of devices than it ever could through licensing fees.

But a settlement could have a large impact on the Android market, said General Patent Corp. chairman and chief executive Alexander Poltorak.

Apple’s endgame, Poltorak said, is likely to make a “broad global settlement” with those who use the rival platform.

“I think what they do hope is to impose significant enough royalties or attacks on those who use Android operating system so that it becomes not economical to produce for that platform,” he said.

In his biography by Walter Isaacson, late Apple co-founder Steve Jobs made it clear that he did not want any kind of settlement, but Poltorak said that’s not reasonable.

“Now that [Jobs is] no longer with us and running Apple, his successor will likely take a more businesslike view of that and make a judgement that it’s probably not possible to kill Android,” he said. But Apple could force up the costs of developing for Android so that it becomes much less appealing to original equipment manufacturers.

Share this Page

Just updated to include the latest changes in patent law and intellectual property best practices, the Second Edition of Essentials of Intellectual Property is the definitive primer on patents, trademarks, copyrights and trade secrets. Full of valuable tips, techniques, real-world examples and exhibits, this handy and concise book provides inventors, business executives and others involved in intellectual property with an understanding of the basics.